One of the biggest figures in Sony - especially SCEE - is David Reeves. He's been around on top of the Sony Europe food chain for quite some time now, but as of April 30 of this year, he's going to be stepping down.

SCEI has issued a press release of Reeves' resignation from the company, with Sony president Kaz Hirai thanking him for his contribution to the company. See, Reeves has been CEO since 2005, and before that, the President and Co-CoO of SCEE.

You can't possibly deny that this guy's pushed a heck of a lot of sales for the PS3, PSP, PS2 - yes, even the PSOne - across Europe and PAL.

So what's Reeve's got to say about his leaving and what are his plans after April 30? It looks like he's going for a more civic route:

It has been a wonderful ride with PlayStation. I never got to visit all 106 countries but managed 66. I have just two things to say on leaving: I want to thank all of those people who have supported SCEE and me personally in the past 14 years; you have been magnificent! Secondly, I am going to spend my time now trying to repay society for all I have taken from it. If your children are having physics lessons at the local school or wondering why their ski instructor is very elderly, your car mechanic has a bad back, or the social worker keeps bringing you PSP games, then it could just be me! Good luck to everybody at SCEE and everybody who continues to support us.

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